Martinsburg daily gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1887-1887, 1887-07-07


Considering the amount OF work done
long hours and responsibility, they are
without doubt the worst paid and most
dependentof employees Railroad clerks I.
wages range from $50 month upward.
A man who has 500 or SO month is l
considered In good circumstances. They
are, as rule, sober, steady, industrious
lot, the majority, perhaps, being married
men, and with such meager wages bring
ing up families respectfully.
Receiving clerks get from $50 10 $65 q
month, and are supposed to have the
easiest places among the clerks. Their
day begins at 2 q. nj. and ends as soon
after 4 as they can finish receiving They
must have thorough knowledge of the
road and Its connections and all the terri
tory covered by it, and extreme accuracy
Is required Of them, as they are held re-
spOnsible for any errors or shortages which
may arise. It sometimes happens that
they have to try conclusions, and give or
take. q licking from q truck driver who
considers himself Aggrieved, or who has
tried the clerks patience beyond endur-
ance limits. The receiving clerk signs the
receipt, which is given back to the driver,
and the duplicate thereof, which he re-
tains, thus identifying himself with the
receipt Of the goods and shouldering the
responsibility for the quantity, condition
and correctness of the shipment. The
duplicate is passed with the goods to the
checker, whose duty it is to compare the
marking of the goods with the written in
structions of the duplicate, note thereon
the weight, the number Of the car in which
the goods are loaded, and sign it, thus as
1t were indorsing the receiving clerk as to
quantity and correctness Of address. The
checker must be very quick of eye and
rapid to select the duplicate required from
among perhaps 100 held between his
fingers. The checkers day begins at 3.
m. and ends when the last of the goods to
be shipped are put into the car. This not
infrequently is far into the night. Dur
ing busy season fourteen and fifteen
hours day is not at all unusual, and for
this overtime, as it is called, no allowance
is made, and the checker, having worke.
until perhaps midnight or later, is ca
pected to be at his work on time in TIT.
morning. Freight checkers get about SOD
q month.
The duplicate, with the. weight OF the
goods, the number Of the car In which
they have been slowed, and the signatures
oftreceiving and checking clerks on 1t, is
now passed on to the billing department.,
where the shipment is manifested to lis
destination. "a car of freight, before leav-
ing the station ct which it Is loaded, is
sealed with the seal of that station, and
that seal must be found intact when the
car reaches its destination. As it is passed
on from one conductor to another he Is
supposed to- examine epch car, and II any
thing Is wrong to note ;lr once where such
car was received, andgcal the attention OF
the agent OF conductor from whom he re-
ceived it to its condition.
There is another system known as the
blind check, the duplicate or written de-
scription of the goods and directions as to
route, ETC., being furnished by tho shipper,
passing from the hands of the receiving
clerk and inspector to the billing office,
and never being seen by the checker. The
latter is furnished with book, and as the
goods are brought before hina for stowage
IN the cars note is taken of the address
and weight of the package, and an estimate
made as to contents. This book IS sent to
the billing office, the duplicate and it are
compared, and from the two manifest Is
made.
Promotion Is exceedingly slow among
railroad clerks. "A smart checker or -
ceiving clerk is generally wanted i'm: l.ssl
situation by his principal, and viii be
kept IN it indefinitely. He brings credit
to his principal as being the possessor and
selector Of good, efficient stan. Some
times it happens that q mans merit Is
recognized, but is more frequently 80 by
the agents Of another road than by those
Of tho one for which he is working He
gets q liberal increase in salary, and
shorld his new post warrant it, he, as q
rule. entices the desirable men among his
old associates to follow him, leaving his
old chiefs embarrassed by their loss and
s., h..ona lrirno. ~ and TEACHING of new men.